Accused Killer's Mom: 'My Son is Not a Crazed Maniac'

Ask Christie Chavez and she'll say her son is a shy, former Marine with a love of BMX bikes. Not a killer.

Based on everything she knows of her son, when she learned that Marcos Chavez, 23, was arrested for the  on Dec. 11—the fatal stabbing of Ronald "Aaron" Carpenter—she thought it was a hoax.

Marcos Chavez is a Marine Corps veteran, who, according to his mother, was awarded Marine of the Year for his company as well as Marine of the Quarter several times. He served in Afghanistan and Okinawa and received his commendation for sergeant. Additionally, according to KSBW, Chavez had no criminal record prior to his arrest last week.

"My son is not a crazed maniac, out of control person who has this terrible criminal history," Christie Chavez told Capitola-Soquel Patch. "He's basically known to us and his friends and family as a pretty sweet, slightly shy, non-violent person. So, it's pretty shocking for everybody."

After his discharge from the military in January, Chavez moved back to Capitola, where he was born and spent the early part of his childhood.

"He loved Capitola," his mother said. "He always thought it was a really neat place because it's so laid back and has such a friendly atmosphere."

He had also begun taking general education classes at Cabrillo College, in pursuit of gaining government employment eventually.

It was through a work-study program at the veterans center in Capitola that it is . Christie Chavez does not believe the two were close however, as she had never heard her son mention Carpenter. 

Chavez called her son "socially shy," and noted that he would actively avoid confrontation as a teenager, saying that "he didn't like high school because of the aggressiveness and the name calling. He didn't get into trouble."

Given that, Chavez's first impression upon hearing from her parents that her son had been arrested was that it was a hoax. Members of her family had recently received a similar phone call, saying their child was in jail and would need $5,000 wired for bail. They were duped by the scam and "sent money to an island somewhere," Chavez said.

But a telephone conversation with Capitola Police Detective Marquis Booth confirmed the story.

"I was horrified," she said. "I thought it couldn't be happening. This isn't real. It's a really surreal, heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching feeling. Other than them saying, 'Your child is dead,' it's the next worst thing. It's just as shocking. Your system reacts the same way to something like that. It was disbelief."

Chavez visited her son at Santa Cruz County Jail for the first time the weekend after he was arrested. She was advised by public defender Jerry Vinluan not to ask about any details of the case. Instead she told him that his family is supporting him. But the preparation for that visit was a difficult process.

"The scary part was thinking, 'What am I going to see when I look at my son?' And what I saw was a very shaken man that had been through something very traumatic and painful," Chavez said. "He obviously feels beyond horrible about what has happened. He's not saying what happened, but I didn't see a cold-blooded killer by any means. I saw a son that had been through a horrendously shocking altercation."

Marcos Chavez was not due back in court until Jan. 5, but his arraignment has been moved up to Dec. 22 as, according to Assistant District Attorney Celia Rowland. The prosecutor said there is now evidence that "the murder was committed during the commission of a robbery, attempted robbery or flight from a robbery or attempted robbery."

Through investigation and court proceedings, the elder Chavez believes another side to the story will be revealed.

"I don't want to portray Marcos as anything that he wasn't," she said. "That he was this sweet, perfect angel of a human being. Well, nobody is. Whatever happened, I'm convinced that he was terrified for his life and he was in a life-threatening situation."

Stay tuned to Capitola-Soquel Patch as the case continues to unfold.